Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said Sunday he would sell the team just hours after the NFL launched an investigation into allegations he had committed “workplace misconduct.”
In a statement, Richardson said he would sell the team after the season, and not entertain any inquiries before the last game has been played. Richardson made no reference to the allegations against him or the league’s investigation into those claims, which has not officially begun.
Richardson’s decision represented a swift fall for one of the NFL’s most powerful owners. At 81, he is the club’s only owner, having bought the franchise when it was created in 1993. For years, Richardson held sway over many key committees.
Though he has stepped back from the league’s affairs in recent years, he continues to have many allies among his fellow owners, and he is the only current owner who also played in the NFL, having spent the 1959 and 1960 seasons with the Baltimore Colts.
The allegations against Richardson, though, came as the league had to face accusations of sexual harassment and sexual assault from a former wardrobe stylist for NFL Network.
Six current and former NFL Network employees, including five former NFL players, have been suspended as a result of those accusations.
Richardson’s departure, though, is much more startling, as he is the face of the Panthers organization. He had previously said that the team would be sold when he died.
By offering to sell the team, Richardson has saved the NFL from having to investigate his actions and from potentially having to push him out. Under the league’s constitution, owners can lose their clubs for acts “detrimental to the league.”
Richardson’s impending sale brings to mind the furor over Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was recorded on tape making racist remarks.
In April 2014, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver permanently barred Sterling, who after initially fighting the sale in court, reluctantly agreed to sell the club for $2 billion to Microsoft magnate Steve Ballmer.
Other owners have given up their teams. Nearly 20 years ago, San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from a corruption case involving Edwin Edwards, the former Louisiana governor.
The NFL fined DeBartolo, who was also barred from actively controlling the 49ers for a year. Rather than return to the league, DeBartolo ceded control of the team to his sister, Denise York.
DeBartolo was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.